Buffalo Bills face tall order in New Orleans

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has thrown for 1,958 yards and 14 touchdowns while leading the Saints to a 5-1 record this season.
(Photo: Derick E. Hingle)

NEW ORLEANS

When the Buffalo Bills hit the field inside the Superdome Sunday afternoon, they will do so as a heavy underdog against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are that the Saints have a 5-1 record, are playing in their raucous home stadium where they are 32-11 since 2008, have a future Hall of Famer at quarterback, and are a legitimate NFC Super Bowl contender.

Compare that résumé to that of the Bills, who are 3-4, playing on the road where they are 6-21 since the start of 2010, have Thad Lewis at quarterback, and can only dream of making the playoffs.

So, should the Bills play with their tails between their legs, take their widely predicted beating like men, and move on to fight another fight? Of course not, and they certainly won’t because if we’ve learned anything about this team under Doug Marrone, it’s that it’s got heart, and it’ll battle right to the bitter end no matter the circumstances.

“We feel like we can compete with anybody in this league,” said running back Fred Jackson. “We relish being decided underdogs, but that’s something that comes as part of the business. We have to go down there and change people’s minds about winning a football game.”

Sort of like what Jim Kelly and the Bills did at the Superdome 21 years ago.

In December of 1992, the Bills were in a far different place as a franchise than they are today. They were two-time defending AFC champions (they would ultimately go on to be four-time AFC champs), as they headed down to the Big Easy to take on an 11-3 Saints team that had the best defense in the NFL and had its eye on earning the NFC berth in Super Bowl XXVII.

That day, the Bills were 10-4, but they were wobbling with two losses in the previous three games, and then things got worse once the game began. Buffalo was already without injured Bruce Smith, then lost Cornelius Bennett, Steve Tasker and Kirby Jackson to injuries.

Yet as they did so often during their heyday, the Bills found a way to win, rallying in the fourth quarter and escaping that crazed environment with a 20-16 victory, prompting center Kent Hull to remark, “In a regular-season game, I would say that’s probably the best win we’ve had since we clinched our first AFC East title (in 1988).”

Afterward, Kelly started his press conference in classic confrontational Kelly style. “OK, raise your hand, how many of you thought we were going to win this game,” Kelly asked the media. When a few hands went up, Kelly pointed to each individual and said, “You’re a liar, you’re a liar, you’re a liar” as his good friends Eddie Van Halen and his then wife, Valerie Bertinelli, stood in the back of the room laughing.

It was one of those never-to-be-forgotten moments, and the Bills would sure love to craft another in this same venue in a game not many people give them much chance to win.

Not that the Bills pay attention to such things, but they have been installed by the oddsmakers as the underdog in every game they have played this season, including four home games. That doesn’t happen too often in the NFL outside of Jacksonville.

“No, not within the team,” Marrone said when asked if he was aware of this fact before saying with a smile, “but I have a lot of relatives.”

Marrone’s relatives, then, have probably informed him that this particular spread is the largest, 12 points. The Bills aren’t being given much respect because the prognosticators seem to believe that while Buffalo’s defense has intercepted 12 passes and sacked opposing quarterbacks 23 times, Brees is simply too good to fall prey.

“I spent the whole offseason and training camp down there, so I’m very familiar with how talented they are and how well coached they are,” said safety Jim Leonhard, who was released by the Saints and later signed with Buffalo. “So we definitely have our work cut out for us, but I think we’re up to the task.”

Jackson is now in his eighth year with the Bills, so being the underdog is nothing new to him. However, Jackson likes the makeup of this 2013 team, and unlike past teams, he believes these Bills are perfectly capable of shocking the doubters and angering the gamblers.

“We just have to come out and play like we know we can,” he said. “They’re a great team; they have been for a while. I think it’s an extremely tough challenge to go down there and beat them, but it’s one we’re looking forward to. We like what we have going on here and the guys we have in this locker room.”